The present invention relates to a method to bind compounds (e.g., antibiotics) to natural or synthetic yarn or fabric, involving reacting the compounds with cyanuric chloride, a hydroxide base (e.g., NaOH), and deionized water to form reactive compounds; forming a dyebath composed of the reactive compounds, at least one nonioinic, cationic or anionic surfactant, salt (e.g., sodium sulfate), deionized water, and natural or synthetic yarn or fabric; heating the dyebath (generally for about 1 to about 100 minutes at a temperature of about 25° to about 100° C.); adding a hydroxide base (e.g., NaOH) to the dyebath and heating (generally for about 1 to about 100 at a temperature of about 80° to about 100° C.); rinsing the natural or synthetic yarn or fabric; placing the natural or synthetic yarn or fabric in deionized water and heating (generally for about 1 to about 100 minutes at a temperature of about 25° to about 100° C.); rinsing the natural or synthetic yarn or fabric, and drying the natural or synthetic yarn or fabric. The present invention also relates to natural or synthetic yarn or fabric bound to antibiotics prepared by the method disclosed herein.
The concept of antibacterial finishing of textiles appeared in 1941 in response to a need to protect the apparel of military personnel from hot and humid environmental conditions in the South Pacific Theater which were ideal for the growth of organisms on natural fiber substrates. More recently, an awareness of general sanitation, contact disease transmission, and personal protection have led to the development of antibacterial fibers to protect wearers against the spread of microorganisms (e.g., bacteria) and diseases rather than just to protect the quality and durability of the textile material. Most of these approaches entail the attachment of a biocidal or bacteriostatic agent to the fabric surface by a variety of mechanisms. These include the layer deposition of silver nanoparticles onto fabric structures, graft polymerization of N-halamide monomers onto cellulosic substrates, placement of quaternary ammonium salts onto cotton fabrics using a covalently bound adduct, covalent attachment of a chloromelamine derivative, and the attachment of chitosan to cotton fabric via cross-linking agents (Dubas, S. T., et al., Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, 289:105-109 (2006); Liu, S., and G. Sun, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 45:6477-6482 (2006); Son, Y. A., et al., European Polymer Journal, 42: 3059-3067 (2006); Sun, Y., et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 44:7916-7920 (2005); El-talawy, K. F., et al., Carbohydrate Polymers 60(4):421-430 (2005)). However the problem exists of degradation of these agents upon washing.
We have found that antimicrobial (e.g., antibacterial) drugs can be directly attached to fabric or yarn (e.g., cotton) which does not exhibit degradation upon washing treatments.